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Frequently Asked Questions |
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Glossary
What is Compost?
What is Humus?
What is Mulch?
What are Living Mulches?
What are Permanent Mulches?
What are Green Manures (Green-growing Mulch)?
What is Sheet Composting?
What are Homemade Mulches?
What is Feeding Mulch?
What was Swanson Fuel?
What is 3/4" Minus?
What is Compost?
A: Organic matter undergoing or resulting from a heat fermentation process. Heat is the factor distinguishing compost from mulch.
What is Humus?
A: Dark, rich, well-decomposed organic material. The end result of all composting (and mulching, eventually) is humus. Rotting organic matter cannot be considered humus until you no longer can identify the original compost material. Humus is the final by-product of thoroughly decomposed mulch as well as compost.
What is Mulch?
A: Can be any material applied to the soil surface to retain moisture, insulate and stabilize the soil, protect plants, and control weeds. Properly functioning mulch has two basic properties.
Good mulch should be:
1. Light and open enough to permit the passage or water and
air and
2. dense enough to inhibit or even choke weed growth.
Mulches can be divided into two fundamental categories:
1. Organic mulches are like unfinished, unheated compost.
Any biodegradable material (anything that will rot) can be
used as organic mulch. The most common organic mulches
are shredded or chipped bark, leaves and leaf mold, hay,
straw, and grass clippings.
2. Inorganic mulches don't begin as plant material. They can
be substances that never rot, such as colored plastics, or they
can be mineral products like crushed stone and gravel chips.
Another example of inorganic mulch is geotextile landscape
fabric, spun-bonded or woven from polypropylene or
polyester, cut for and used as mulch.
What are Living Mulches?
A: Low-growing, shallow-rooted, ever-spreading ground cover plants like vinca, myrtle, thyme, sweet woodruff, English ivy, and pachysandra.
What are Permanent Mulches?
A: Usually made up of non disintegrating (not necessarily non biodegradable) materials. Examples are: crushed stone, gravel, and marble chips.
What are Green Manures (Green-growing Mulch)?
A: Basically cover crops like ryegrass, alfalfa, and buckwheat that meet the definition of mulch.
What is Sheet Composting?
A: A layer of organic matter (alfalfa leaves or stalks, for example) is laid on the top of the growing surface and then worked into the earth by plow, tiller, or spade. Once covered or partially covered with dirt, the organic matter decomposes very rapidly but without heat.
What are Homemade Mulches?
A: They include dry coffee grounds, tea leaves, chopped paper, stringy pea pods and vegetable leavings (no meat, bones, fat or dairy products, though, these will attract critters).
What is Feeding Mulch?
A:Rotten leaves, manures, and compost (compost can also be used as mulch) are the most obvious kinds of feeding mulches..
What was Swanson Fuel?
A: That was the name of this company until we changed it in 1997. Swanson Fuel was an appropriate name when all we did was take loads of bark and stuff to the mills for hogfuel (to burn). Once we began to expand and do new things, we needed a new name.
What is 3/4" Minus?
A: This is the Oregon State Spec for crushed base rock. Washington State Spec is 5/8" Minus, which we carry.
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